The invention relates to the field of package-handling machinery. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and an apparatus for opening or erecting folded boxes and placing them on a suitable conveyor belt for subsequent filling and closing. In a known process with known machinery, folded boxes are removed from a magazine and are erected or opened in a first mechanical movement by suction devices. The boxes are then transported out of the return path of the suction device in a second mechanical displacement. Finally, a third rapid downward movement places the opened box in the conveyor belt with a "slapping" motion.
The execution of these three separate mechanical movements requires a multitude of machine members and control parts resulting in a complicated system and an expensive construction. Further disadvantages of the known method and apparatus are that a change of box sizes is relatively difficult and requires a lengthy adjustment and thus results in relatively high cost. These disadvantages become especially cumbersome in the handling of folded boxes of large size.